Florida's green turtle nesting aggregation is the second largest in the Western Hemisphere.

Green turtle nesting in Florida occurs from June through late September. Every two or three years, a female will return to the same nesting beach and lay an average of three to five egg clutches in a season. A clutch averages about 128 eggs. With about 12 days between nestings, a female can lay as many as 10 clutches.

The green turtle's name derives not from the color of its shell--olive-brown with dark streaks and spots--but from the greenish color of its body fat. On average, these sea turtles weigh 300 pounds and have a shell length of 3.3 feet.

Although nesting activity has been recorded in almost every coastal county in Florida, most green turtle nesting is concentrated along the southeast coast of Florida.